People with diabetes should prepare for hurricanes

PENDER COUNTY -- Along with preparing your home for a hurricane people with medical conditions should also prepare themselves. Pender County Hospital is offering classes for diabetics on self managing their condition during a disaster.

In the instance of a hurricane it's essential for diabetics to have a copy of their medical history, extra insulin or pills -- and plenty of carbohydrates.

The class also gives tips on preparing and storing meals and medication.

Diabetes educator Maureen Drake said, "It takes some extra steps to manage diabetes, scheduling meals, scheduling medication. If a person is on insulin that insulin needs to be stored correctly so that it's not affected."

You should safely store the following medical supplies or have them readily available:

copy of your emergency information and medical list

extra copies of prescriptions

insulin or pills (include all medications you take daily including over the counter medications)

syringes

alcohol swabs

cotton balls & tissues

a meter to measure blood

blood sugar diary

insulin pump supplies

strips for your meter

urine ketone testing strips

lancing device and lancets

quick-acting carbohydrates

longer lasting carbohydrates

glucagon emergency kit

empty hard plastic water bottle with cap to dispose used lancets and syringes

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